Beloved anime director Hayao Mizayaki, the creator behind such films as Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service, is back at work with Studio Ghibli and deep in production on a new anime.
The movie is called How Do You Live?, based on a 1937 children’s novel by Yoshino Genzaburo, about a 15 year old boy who is sent to live with his uncle after his father’s death. For a children’s book, the story is deeply philosophical, dealing with themes of grief, bullying, and growing up. In 2018, it was developed into a manga that became a bestseller.
According to Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki, the film is being hand-drawn, frame by frame, by 60 animators. Despite the workforce, Suzuki says the most the studio can produce at the moment is one minute of film a month (that’s roughly 1,500 frames being drawn per month). So it might be awhile until we see the finished product of How Do You Live? Suzuki says that 36 minutes of the film are already complete, and that Ghibli hopes to have the film finished in the next three years.
But Ghibli isn’t devoting all its time to How Do You Live?. Miyazaki’s son, Goro, is also currently working on a project for Ghibli, a computer0animated movie whose title and premise have yet to be revealeed. Suzuki said that the film is based on a book from England “about a very wise girl”. Could it be Alice? Matilda? Only time will tell.
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